[Gear] 2.5K Resolution For Under $3000!

Black Magic Design has just announced a crazy new cinema camera that records to 2.5K RAW for under $3000. That's incredibly cheap for a camera that has features that most high end DSLR's are currently lacking.

So while it lacks the large sensor of full frame DSLR's, which will affect the DOF in the final image, and has what seems to be a very short battery life, it's got RAW output, and higher resolution that will blow most DSLR's out of the water.

Check out some of the sample footage HERE. There's also some more info on the camera on Black Magic Design's website HERE.

12 Comments

I don't know about anybody else, but at ISO 320 it looked pretty darn grainy. And at what I think is ISO 100, it looked just as good as my Canon 60D shooting at 1080p. But what do I know I am only an amateur.

I've got to agree with Scott. There is a ton of noise in the sample video in the link at ISO 320. Generally the downsampling of Vimeo tends to mask quite a bit of noise (it's only displaying 720p). Even at much, much higher ISOs, GH2 or 5D footage shows much less noise on Vimeo. I can only imagine how much noise is visible in the native 2.5K resolution footage.

To the OP. 90 mins of battery life while in use is amazing. The Red Epic battery life is about half. The one problem I see is the battery on this isn't replaceable.But you can plug it in AC power while in studio. Also, the ssd slot is a great addition. Yes, the Red camera use ssd but I spent alot of money on SSD's from Red. You can't buy off the shelf hard drives.

I think the sensor is good enough for most people. Yes the ISO noise isn't the best compared to Red, Arri, or some of the DSLR. You need to keep in mind that film was pre release. The Nikon D4 had to have a new firmware update before it was release which helped with the ISO so there is a chance it will get better.

I would love to try it out. I would put it through its paces. Ill have to call Black Magic and see what I can do.

Oh man, why would you make a camera for the 'pro' market and not have a PL mount on it?

Also, @facebook-100000008811871:disqus,
even in studio you'd want to avoid relying on AC power, to avoid
line-hum noise during a recording. I haven't yet had this issues with
cameras (have been using DC power for cameras mostly), but I have
definitely experienced line-hum with AC-powered audio recorders.